So I finished my last update having just finished a 20 mile long run, at a pace I would of been happy running my marathon at. I also mentioned that I was beginning to have some knee trouble. Well, that knee trouble may well have gotten the better of me.
While it’s hard for me to admit that I have decided to drop out of this marathon, I believe it is important to share this failure with you in order to close that door and push onto the next goal. The past month since my last update has consisted of sporadic runs, with the hope of healing through resting my body. During this time, I wasn’t doing everything in terms of rehab to nurture my knee, just the occasional yoga session and a lot of wishful thinking. However, this last week I said to myself that the race is coming up in just over a month and if I’m going to do it, I need to train. So, in the hope that most of it was just mental, I set back out to return to my usual running schedule, just with lower mileage. I was able to get through the 4 weekday runs with just mild pain, and extensive warm-ups and stretching after. But, that Sunday I set out to try to complete a short ‘long run’ of 10 miles to see if I could at least get through that. The first 5 miles were alright, but after that mark, the pain all over my knee started to become unbearable to the point 7.5 miles in, I felt something pull in the back of my left leg and I said to myself that this is not worth it.
Having never had any knee issues prior to this training, to now not being able to sit crossed-legged due to the pressure it puts on my knee, I think I have to start listening to my body and think long-term. I think there are a couple things that caused this pain that could definitely have been preventable. Firstly, get in the gym! I currently feel the weakest I have ever felt, and I believe that if I had been training simultaneous to the running, strengthening my core and legs, I would have been able to sustain the intense training. Secondly, following a plan more focused on a beginner runner. I think in this case, my eyes were bigger than my belly. You can see the plan in my ‘Marathon Update 2 Blog’. The training was very intense and for someone with no prior running experience, it is incredibly harsh on the body. Saying that, I believe the day we ran 20 miles, I could of ran marathon distance at a pace I would of been happy with. So maybe a shorter preparation time would have been the way to go. But, for beginners with time to improve, a more gradual progression with time to really adjust your body may be the smarter way to go.
All in all, I’m very disappointed that I was not able to achieve this feat. But, I know will achieve this goal in the near future…maybe even towards the end of this year. 2019 definitely! For now, it’s back to the gym and time to get some weight back on this small body. Also, if you aren’t already following the progress of my running partner, Mr. Alex Guillaume on Strava, please do. Since I’ve stopped, he has continued to kill it every single day. I’m certain he’s going to smash this marathon in a time that even surprises him.. Under 3:30..
Thank you for reading these marathon blogs, and sorry for the poor ending.
Cheers
- Ryan Ejezie